A Dangerous Mind
by sansasawyer
Summary: What if Lucas was too late to save Peyton from Psycho Derek in 4x05? What happens next? Leyton & slightly Breyton. My first fic ever, so I'm kinda nervous about this. Would be more than happy for some feedback! Warning: Rape and violence.
1. All My Fault

_Author's note:_ _Inspired by xMusicGurlx's fic "Stockholm Syndrome", but as that one was never continued, I just had to make my own story._

_Disclaimer: I do not anything but the writing. The characters and everything that comes with One Tree Hill belongs to its respectful owners._

_The title "A Dangerous Mind" comes from the song by Within Temptation. I used it because the song just really fits that whole Peyton/Psycho Derek storyline._

**A Dangerous Mind**

As Derek closed up on her with the taser ready in his hand, Peyton turned around screaming. She ran into her closet and grabbed anything she could find to throw at him. Panicking with fear, she pulled some records out of the shelf and threw them at him, as he came closer. Before the objects even managed to hit him, he knocked them out of the way and grabbed Peyton's arm violently. She was thrown up against the wall, the air being knocked out of her. As she gasped for her breath, Derek slowly pulled his arms around her waist and pulled her body closer to his. "Are you ready to come with me, Peyton?" he whispered, and those blue eyes looked so feverishly into hers, as if he was some wild animal. Peyton struggled hard and violently to get free from him, but he was too strong.

"Please, please, please, please! Don't do this, don't!" she whimpered desperately. Peyton could see him raise his hand with the taser, and before she even knew what was happening next, an intense pain filled her body. She screamed and tried to fight, and then everything was dark.

X

Lucas was lying on the bed in his room, looking up at the roof, but not paying attention to it. He was thinking about Peyton, poor Peyton… He could still see the clear, terrifying images in his mind from the night before, when he had arrived at her house.

_He saw the front door hanging wide open, while one of the glass windows next to the door were broken. Her purse was also lying on the front porch. While he ran inside, panic clutching in his stomach, he heard no sound inside the house. No voices, no screams… not a sound. The worst possibilities imaginable went through his head while he ran up the stairs, heading for her room. Was he about to find her body in there, molested and broken? Would she even be alive? As he almost threw himself into Peyton's room, the first thing that hit him was pure shock. _

_He blinked several times, taking the disturbing image of her room in. Hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of Peyton's face were looking back at Lucas, from every angle. He couldn't even see the walls behind all the pictures, it was completely unrecognizable. There were pictures of Peyton doing the most random things; on some she was talking on the phone, looking out her window, or simply walking down the street. There were pictures of her eating lunch, driving her car, and even hanging out with Lucas. Some of the pictures seemed to be from over a year ago._

_After feeling completely stunned for a moment, having taken in the sick appearance of the room, Lucas looked around in a hurry. Any sign for Peyton, anywhere… He could not see her at all. He looked behind the bed, in her closet, the bathroom… there was no one there._

_"PEYTON!" Lucas screamed, feeling his fear growing. It didn't seem like Peyton nor Derek were there, but he couldn't give up yet. "PEYTON!" He left her room, searching the rest of the house, but with each new room he entered, his hopes grew smaller. "No, no, no…"_

Lucas suddenly heard a knock on the door. He sat up on the bed in a hurry, and managed to wipe his eyes just before whoever had knocked came in.

"Hey", Brooke said in a hoarse voice and managed a smile. Lucas saw that her eyes looked slightly red, and figured she had been crying.

"Brooke, hey…" he answered. She closed the door and sat down on the bed with him.

They just looked at each other for a moment, without saying anything. Lucas could see Brooke's eyes filling up with tears, and he quickly looked away, so he wouldn't lose it, too.

"So, uh.. Larry called. He's on his way home," Brooke suddenly said in a trying-to-be casual voice.

"Oh." Lucas didn't really know how to respond.

Then, without any warning, Brooke burst into tears.

"It's all my fault, Luke! It's all my fault! Just because I was mad at Peyton over some stupid thing, I wasn't there for her! I could have stopped it, I could have seen through him before he- and now I might never see her again… If I had been there-" her voice broke. "How will I ever forgive myself for this? It's all my fault, it's all my fault…" she kept crying, tears streaming down her face. Her voice sounded so pitiful and broken.

Lucas took her hand and squeezed. "And why would it be your fault, Brooke? There was nothing you could have done, you didn't know, none of us had any idea what would happen… He fooled us all…" Lucas could feel his own voice shaking, as he knew exactly how Brooke was feeling. Peyton kept saying he was always saving her, yet he hadn't managed to save her from this. He let Peyton go to her house alone that night, and now she was gone, lost... possibly forever… If only he had been there minutes earlier, he might have made it in time. He couldn't bare the thought of it.

"I was her best friend! I _am _her best friend! And I left her when she needed me most! I don't even understand why I was so mad at her in the first place, and now I might never get to see her again and apologize to her. She thinks I hate her…" Brooke wept and fell into Lucas' arms, shaking with tears.

Normally Lucas would have reacted about the fact that he and Brooke shared a moment like this, especially now that they were broken up, but now… He couldn't feel anything.

"Of course she doesn't think you hate her, Brooke." he said. "A friendship that has lasted for as long as yours can't be ruined like that. And we _will _see her again, I'll make sure of that. I'm sure she'll be… fine." Lucas tried his best not to only convince Brooke of this, but also himself, as he felt the crushing feeling of doubt overpowering him.


	2. On Your Own

Everything was dark. Everything was quiet. Peyton could only hear the continuous humming in her head. What was going on? Why was everything so dark? She intently tried to remember where she was or how she had gotten there, but she couldn't. She realized her eyelids were closed, but didn't have the strength to open them. She was lying down on her side, and the ground was shaking. Why was it shaking? It almost felt like she was in a car. Right, the humming… It wasn't in hear head, it was coming from a car! Why was she in a car, though?

It was so hot, and Peyton couldn't help but take deep breaths to get enough air. She could feel the warm air going down to her lungs, and filling her whole body. Suddenly she heard a cold voice in her head, saying; _"Are you ready to come with me, Peyton?"_ Flashes of memories from the attack appeared to her, and Peyton's eyes suddenly popped open. Everything was just as dark as before she opened her eyes, but her mind started to put the pieces together. Derek… he had showed up at her house. The memories were flooding back to her… Derek breaking into her room, all the sick photographs of her on the walls, him attacking her, her being thrown into a wall, fighting for her life, and Derek's disturbing face looking at her with those _eyes_.

Peyton closed her eyes and tried not to cry.

As she tried to move, Peyton realized she was in a small room, which must be the trunk of the car. It was completely dark, and the space very restricted. She pulled at her hands and feet, discovering they were tied up, with her hands behind her back. As she tried to get free from the firm ropes, terrified, her voice tried to let out a squeal. It was only then she became conscious of the cloth filling her mouth, gagging her. Peyton could feel the panic rise to the surface, and she could feel her breath going faster and faster.

Where was she being taken? What was going to happen to her? What was _he_ going to do to her? As she could not allow herself to go any further into these terrible thoughts, she felt herself becoming desperate. She started kicking her feet against the roof and walls of the trunk, hoping she would be able to kick it open. Peyton used all the strength she could find inside herself, frantically kicking and crying, praying that she would somehow get away from this nightmare.

Suddenly she could feel the car slowing down. Her heart sunk, and she stopped the kicking to listen. The car stopped, and she could hear a car door open and then close with a loud bang. Peyton could feel her fear growing; fear much stronger than what she had felt up to this point. All she could do was lie there, waiting. Her heart was beating so fast she almost expected it to beat a hole in her chest, and as she held her breath, she could hear him grab the handle and open the trunk.

The first thing that hit her was bright light, blinding her vision. She blinked a few times, and then she saw him. That tall, thin character, who was much stronger than he looked, was staring right down at her with an evil smile on his face. He was wearing that white tank top of his, and he measured her up and down with his blue, lustful eyes. Peyton's eyes widened in terror.

"Peyton. You're awake," he said softly and his smile became even wider. She desperately started to fight against the ropes again, but it was of no use.

"Don't worry, Peyton! I'm not going to hurt you," he said in a reassuring voice, but his eyes told her differently.

Derek leaned down and stroked her cheek. The mere touch of him made her feel disgusted, but she was too afraid to fight him. His hands started caressing her face, touching her hair, his eyes burning with desire. Peyton closed her eyes, and choked a cry. She could feel his warm breath hitting her face, as his face closed in on hers. She could not deal with what he was planning to do next, and started to fight.

"GET OFF ME!" she screamed, although the cloth filling her mouth strangled her voice. She violently tried to pull away from him, but he grabbed her tightly, his smile now gone.

"You're not being very nice now Peyton, stop that!" he said through closed teeth, trying to hold her still, while she was fighting for her life. "Please don't, please!" she tried to beg, while he took a hard grip on her face, keeping her head still. Tears streamed down her face, and she pressed her eyes closed, as he forced his lips passionately against hers.

As soon as he let go, Peyton gasped for her breath, shaking uncontrollably.

"Mmmm, that was amazing… Oh, Peyton, I love you so much, you don't even know" he said, looking at her with a scary fire in his eyes. Peyton kept weeping, and was barely able to take solid breaths.

"Well, I've got to get back to driving, Peyt…" he said and smiled sweetly to her. "Don't fret baby, we're almost there. We're going to be so happy together, I promise you."

Derek stroked his hand over Peyton's cheek one last time, before he stood up, closed the trunk, and left her in the darkness.

Peyton could not believe this was happening to her. She tried to control her tears, breathing slowly in and out, but as soon as her thoughts took over again, she lost control.

_Why_ was this happening to her? She just wanted to get out of this horrible nightmare and wake up in her own bed, safe and sound. _Please let this be a dream, _she desperately thought. But she knew it was no dream. This was all very, terrifyingly real, and there were no one there to save her this time. She was on her own.

Her thoughts drifted to Lucas for a moment, and she lost it completely. Tears fell down her face, as she so longingly wished to see Lucas, now more than ever. _Where was he? Was he looking for her? Would he even be able to find her, if he _was_ looking for her? _She_ didn't even know where they were going, so how would Lucas know? _Peyton's thoughts continued to drift to Lucas, as she closed her weeping eyes, feeling broken and scared.


	3. I Promise

Peyton didn't know how long they had been driving. She was just lying there, with dried tears in her face, still shaking slightly. A while earlier, the car had come onto some bumpy, uncomfortable road, which made it hard to stay in one position. It felt like they were driving on some land road. She wondered where they were going. Peyton felt her stomach clench into knots. Being stuck there in the darkness, not knowing where she was going or what would happen to her... it was unbearable. However, she had some kind of plan, if that's what you could call it. It was a crappy plan, and it probably wouldn't work out at all, but she couldn't allow herself to give up, she just couldn't. She had to _try_ to get away somehow, or at least try to hurt him.

Suddenly Peyton felt the car slowing down. Her breathing started to increase fast, and she tried not to panic. _Oh god, oh god, oh god…_

The car stopped, and Peyton could hear the car door open and close. She prepared herself to fight for her life. She would not let him take her so easily. If there was a possibility to try to get away from him, it was now. Peyton could feel her heart banging in her chest, but she tried not to pay attention to it. Then she heard his grip on the trunk handle, and it slowly opened. It was a little darker outside now. His face appeared to her, still with that creepy smile on it, only this time, he looked even more pleased.

"Hey baby," he said in a husky voice. Peyton looked at him with big eyes, holding her breath. "I'm sorry, Peyton, but I have to give you something to calm you down for a little while. It's only so I can make things ready." He raised one of his hands, holding a handkerchief, which looked like it was soaked in some yellowish liquid. Peyton felt her heart rate increasing as Derek bent down, reaching his hand with the handkerchief out to her face. Just as he was close enough, she made her move.

BAM! She kicked him right in the gut with her feet, and then again, and again, as he shouted out in pain.

"Calm down, Peyton!" he said angrily, and tried to grab her feet, but she wasn't gonna let him. She started kicking every ounce of that bastard she could get to. He howled furiously, and tried to take control over her, but she was going berserk. Then she hit her goal. She managed to kick him right in the crotch, and he shrieked in pain and fell to his knees. Peyton struggled to sit up and desperately rolled out of the trunk. She fell hard on the ground, not thinking about the pain, and rolled over on her stomach. If only her hands were free! She tried her best to crawl away from him, having no idea how she was going to get out of this. Then she felt his hands get hold of her feet, and he powerfully dragged her back to him, cutting up her stomach and legs on the rocky ground. Peyton screamed into the gag, trying her hardest to fight back. Derek turned her over on her back, which made her land on top of her tied hands, pushing them into the hard ground. The pain made her eyes tear up, but she kept trying to fight him. He forcefully sat on top of her, making her still.

"_That _was not very nice, Peyton!" he yelled enraged. Peyton sobbed violently, feeling desperate and terrified. She tried get loose from him, but was completely trapped. "Now stay calm, or you'll regret it!" he threatened. He picked up the handkerchief, stared at Peyton with an evil look in his eyes, and placed it over her mouth and nose. Peyton pressed her eyes closed, and was forced to breathe in the fabric. It had a strong smell of alcohol, and Peyton started coughing and squirming her head, to get away from it. She could feel Derek's hands taking a hold on her head, keeping it still, and she was forced to breathe in again. It felt like her hearing was starting to disappear. She opened her eyes, panicking. Her vision had gotten blurry, and she was only able to see the silhouette of Derek's face looking down at her. She tried to keep her eyelids open, but it got harder and harder. The last thing she felt was an intense headache, and then everything was black.

X

It was midnight. Lucas had yet again went outside to clear his head, and his current location was at the River Court. He was sitting on the sideline, holding a basketball, spinning it in his hands. It was a beautiful night, but Lucas didn't pay any attention to it. Other things were occupying his mind.

It felt like he had this black hole in his stomach, and it was just getting bigger and bigger. The longer he waited, the farther away Peyton could be taken. Peyton was his friend, and they had so much history together. She wasn't _just _a friend. She had a special place in his heart, but he wasn't exactly sure what it meant yet. She just always understood him in a way that other people didn't. And now that she was gone, he kept re-visiting all the moments they had shared together. Through all the heartbreak, pain, terror, laughs and loneliness… she had been there for him, and he had been there for her.

_"You don't know me!" she said with sarcasm in her voice, still showing a hint of a smile. "Oh, I think I do!" Lucas replied, smiling back at her… _

His mind wandered to the questions of where Peyton could be now. Was she scared? Was she hurt? Was she even alive? "_No, don't think that. She's not dead, she can't be", _he told himself. He couldn't allow himself to think those kind of thoughts. He had to be strong… for Peyton…

And what about Derek? What was his plan in all of this? What was he doing to Peyton at this very moment?

Lucas could feel rage boiling up in his chest. _Derek._ If there was one person he wanted to find almost as much as Peyton, it was Derek. Boy, would Lucas show him… Every time Lucas' mind allowed him to wander to Peyton, it jumped over to Derek, and every time that happened, he got a sudden urge to punch something or scream out in anger.

Lucas stood up and threw the ball angrily away into the dark. He started pacing back and forth, his blood pumping from the anger.

He _had _to do something. He _had_ to find Peyton. But how?

The police were already looking for her and Derek, he knew that… but he wouldn't be able to rest until he found her, himself. Maybe he would figure out something that the police had missed?

Besides, it was his job to save her. He knew he couldn't live with himself, unless he tried…

_"Nothing will happen to you. __**I promise.**__"_

_"You're always saving me..." "Somebody's got to." _

_A single tear streamed down her face…_

"I will save you, Peyton. I promise," he spoke into the dark, his voice trembling.


	4. Please Let Me Go

__Author's note: The song "Pet" quoted in this chapter belongs entirely to the band "A Perfect Circle".

X

_Peyton was dead, she knew it. There was only darkness, forever. _  
_There was no sound. It was neither cold nor warm, it just was. _  
_Peyton raised her head, looking up. It was all black and darkness, everywhere. She stood up and started walking. She had no destination, she just walked._

_"Where am I?" Peyton looked around, trying to see anything. Then she heard a voice, but it sounded far away. "Don't be afraid, Peyton…" It echoed through her ears, and then faded away._  
_"Ellie?" Peyton was sure that was Ellie's voice. "Ellie!" she shouted._  
_"I need you to be strong now, Peyton." _  
_"But where are you? Why can't I see you, Ellie?" Peyton yelled._  
_"Just promise me… promise me…" The voice was slipping away. Peyton frantically looked around._

_Suddenly there was a glimpse of light for a second, like lightning. In the flash of the light she saw him, standing there, smiling at her with that evil face. Before she could take in what she had seen, he was gone, and it was dark again. "No…" Peyton said, her fear growing. She started running into the nothingness, praying to get away. She ran and ran, but another sound kept getting louder._

"Don't fret precious, I'm here.  
Step away from the window.  
Go back to sleep…"

_It sounded like music, but Peyton didn't understand where it was coming from._

"Lay your head down child.  
I won't let the boogeyman come…"

_The music kept getting louder. Peyton tried to run, but it was like the voice was following her, no matter what direction she ran to._

"Pay no mind what other voices say.  
They don't care about you like I do."

_"No. No!" Peyton screamed. She just wanted to get away from this._

"See, they don't give a fuck about you like I do…"

_"STOP IT!" she screamed and desperately pulled at her hair, tears streaming down her face._

"Just stay with me, safe and ignorant.  
Go back to sleep…"

"NO!" Peyton screamed, and woke up in the blink of an eye, sitting up.  
Her whole body was shaking, and she was full of sweat. Breathing heavily, she looked around. She was in a small room with no windows, and only one weak light hanging from the roof, barely lighting up the room. Now she understood where the music was coming from. There was no record player in there with her, but it was coming from somewhere outside her room. It was a man singing, with loud rock music playing in the background.

_"Count the bodies like sheep_  
_To the rhythm of the war drums!"_

Peyton looked to her feet, and realized she was in a big bed, where there could be room for two. She then became aware of her clothes; they had been changed. She was no longer wearing her cheerleader uniform, but was dressed in a white summer dress that barely went down to her knees. Now that she looked to her feet, she saw small bandages covering up the areas on her legs that had been hurt when she tried to escape.  
Peyton started breathing more heavily, as she now fully remembered what had happened, and who had done this to her. Terror washed over her, as she knew what she was up against. Peyton sat up more properly, and placed her feet on the floor. It was then she noticed the chain locked around her right ankle. The chain went from her foot to the bed foot, with only a short link between, so she would not be able to move too far away from the bed. "_Oh no_…"

Peyton felt a bump in her throat, wanting to cry. She placed her foot up on the bed, and took a hard grip on the chain locked tightly around her ankle. She pulled with all her strength, trying to get it off, but it did not even budge. A tear of desperation fell down Peyton's face, but she paid no attention to it. She continued to try and get free from the chain, with no other thought in her mind. When she figured it was a lost cause, she moved over to the bed foot where the chain was linked to. It was immovable, and Peyton was trapped.  
Peyton started sobbing in despair, frightened for her life.

God, how she hated Derek! She just couldn't believe that the sweet guy she had taken for her brother, could turn into such a monster. He had thought everything through so well, and she didn't stand a chance against him. He was stronger than she was, bigger than her, and had all the advantages. She was just a scared, little girl, tied up and alone. Peyton was completely under his control, whether she wanted it or not. "Aaaarghh!" she angrily cried out, and pulled at the chain again, even though she knew it would not help.

Peyton threw herself to the bed, trembling like mad. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to think about Lucas. The bare thought of him hurt like mad. He was always there for her when she was having a rough time… and all she could think of now, was how she wanted him to be there with her, to comfort her… to make her feel _safe_. But there was no safety for her now. There was no Lucas, no dad… not even Brooke.

Even though Brooke and Peyton had left things pretty bad the last time they spoke, Peyton longed to see Brooke too… Brooke had been there for her after her first mom died, and Brooke had made her feel safe when the world had come crashing down. She missed Brooke so much. Brooke could be such a caring person when she wanted to, and right now, Peyton just wanted to lie down and cry in her arms.  
As Peyton was lying there in her own sorrow and thoughts, she didn't notice the door to the room open, and someone quietly walk in.

"Hi Peyton."  
Peyton let out a tiny screech, and turned around in shock. Derek was standing at the edge of the bed, staring at her with a smile upon his face, as always. "I'm glad you're up. I hope you had a good night sleep… It's already morning."

He walked closer to her, and sat down on the bed. Peyton pulled her feet away from him, only wanting to blend into the wall behind her. Derek raised his eyebrows.  
"There is no need to be scared, Peyton. It's only me, Derek," he said with an innocent voice. He reached out his hand, like he was about to stroke her cheek, but she angrily pushed it out of the way, and pulled farther away from him to the other side of the bed. His smile faded.  
"Now look, Peyton. I need you to understand, this was the only way. _We belong together_, and this was the only way for us to be together." Peyton couldn't believe her ears.

"What… what are you even talking about, Derek?!" Peyton said hysterically. "Let me go… please!"  
"I can't do that, Peyton. I love you. And I know you love me to," he said calmly and smiled.  
"No! You're wrong! I do not_ love you_, Derek! I_ hate_ you! There is nothing I could hate more, than to spend another minute with you!" she furiously spit out.

Before she could do anything to prevent it, he punched her hard in the face. Peyton screamed in pain and covered her face with her hands.  
"Don't ever take that tone with me!" Derek yelled outraged. Tears fell from Peyton's face as she slowly removed her hands from her face, and dared to look at him. His eyes were on fire, and he stretched out his hands to her in a determined movement, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a sickening hug. Peyton felt nauseous from his touch, and tried to get out of his embrace, but he was holding her too tightly. "Don't fight me, Peyton," he said softly.

She could feel his strong muscles from under his shirt. He took a passionate sniff of her hair, and she shuddered.  
"Don't you know how much I love you?" he whispered in her ear. "We can have a life together here. Eventually, you will realize your feelings for me, Peyton, and we'll be so happy. You'll see."  
"Please…" Peyton cried. "Derek… let me go. Please…"

She wanted to get away from him with all her life, but there no strength left in her. She could feel the hopelessness overpowering her, and all she could do was cry into his arms, as he stroked her hair tenderly.


	5. You Asked For It

Peyton's eyes were sore. She had been crying so much that her eyes physically hurt. Derek had been determined to sleep tightly by her side all night, and she was completely exhausted from it. She hadn't slept at all, as he had held his arms around her, and every now and again stroked her back or kissed her neck, sending chills down her spine. She had been shaking and crying quietly, hoping she would not wake him, and hoping he would not do what she was _most_ scared he would. And when he finally left her alone in the room at morning, she could tense down a little, at last. She was still too frightened to sleep, though. Peyton did not know how long he had left her there by now, but she kept praying he would never come back. Only wishful thinking, of course.

As expected, he came back.

"Peyton… I brought you some breakfast." He beamed at her, and closed the door behind him. Peyton refused to look at him or talk to him. She had decided that the best way to rebel would be not to acknowledge his existence. It seemed to work, as he looked annoyed when she did nothing to show she had noticed he was there.

"It's soup. Warm and delicious… you must be hungry, precious," he continued, and sat down on the bed. Peyton kept lying in the same position, staring at the wall. She could feel him starting to finger her hair, and was tempted to slap his hand away, but avoided doing so. She was too afraid of him to do anything… for now.

"Peyt… look at me. I don't want us to fight. I need you to eat for me, okay? You look really pale, baby." Peyton closed her eyes in loathing. She hated when he called her that. And sure, she was hungry as hell, but she'd rather starve than eat anything from him.

"Arrghh!" His anger was building up. "Why do you have to be so hard, Peyton?" he said irritably. Without warning, Derek grabbed her face, turned her to him and pressed her jaw open. Peyton gasped for breath and made strangled sounds, as he shoved a spoon of hot soup into her mouth. It got caught in her throat, and she started choking and coughing, tears streaming down her face from the heat.

"Are you going to be a good girl now, Peyton?" Derek said, grinning viciously. Peyton stabbedhim with her eyes, but silently opened her mouth, as he fed her another spoon. Peyton could feel her fear turning into anger. Ater feeding her one more time, she spit the food out angrily, hitting him right in the face with it. She could see him turning red from anger, and saw his shoulders tense. He slowly wiped the soup of his face, and raised his hand in the air, like he was going to hit her. As he slapped her hard in the face, she whimpered in pain, and then he slapped her again, making her fall to the pillows.

"_Do that one more time, and you will regret it viciously," _he warned unpleasantly. Peyton raised herself up from the pillows and stared at him with hatred she had never felt for another human being before.

"I don't want to hurt you, Peyton. But you're making it _really_ hard."

"_Why _are you doing this to me, Derek? You're better than this, I know you are! Please, don't do it anymore! You don't even know what you're doing! Please…" she pleaded, hoping he would realize what how sick this was.

"I know what I'm doing. I love you," he just said.

Peyton couldn't understand how he could be so delirious. How could Derek not see how _wrong_ it all was?

"This isn't love, Derek! Don't you see that? This is insanity! If this was love, then why did you have to take me by force? If this was love, then why am I being held captive against my will? If you _really_ loved me, you would want me to be happy. If you really loved me, you would let me _go_…"

"_Let you go?_" he said with a cool laugh, his eyes giving her chills. "I didn't force you into this. You wanted me to do this, I know it. I saw you on your webcam, and it was like you were giving your soul to me. I know you were talking to me. _You forced me to do this. _Because of the way you dressed, the way you acted, the way you looked at me with those pretty eyes… You _made_ me crave you, and now I'm just doing what you wanted me to... I had already been watching you for over a year when I introduced myself to you," Derek said and smiled lovingly. "On you podcasts, you kept talking about how you were afraid you'd never meet the right guy. But I'm right here, Peyton. I'm right here, your Mr. P. Sawyer, and I'll never leave you. You say people always leave. I will never leave you, _ever_. I promise you that." He looked warmly at Peyton, but all she could feel was cold fear. He had been watching her for _over a year?_

Tears of anger and denial started falling down her face. She wanted to hurt him. She wanted to make him feel just a little part of the agony she was feeling.

"But you're not Lucas," she whispered.

"What?" Derek said, his eyes growing smaller.

"Lucas is the guy for me. I don't love _you_, I love _him_," she said, her voice growing stronger by each word. "I will _never_ love you. Not even when Hell freezes over… it'll still be Lucas! You make me feel _sick_!" Peyton yelled angrily, with extra pressure on the last word. She knew she had gone too far, but it felt good.

"Take that back, Peyton, or I swear to you…"he said dangerously.

"No! I love Lucas, Lucas, _Lucas_!" she screamed, enjoying the provoked look on his face.

Then he cracked. The bowl of soup fell to the floor, and Derek punched Peyton hard in the face, and she could feel a small crack in her nose, and then something warm streaming down her face. He punched her in the face again, slamming her into the wall and she fell to the bed, bleeding and crying.

"I NEVER wanna hear you say his name again!" he howled furiously, oozing of jealousy. "Yeah, you just lie there and cry, you little bitch! You asked for it! You hear me? YOU ASKED FOR IT!" he yelled, leaving the room and slamming the door behind him violently.

Peyton couldn't believe how it was possible to transform so fast. In one moment, he was this "caring" guy (in his own sick way), and in the next, he suddenly became a furious monster. Peyton sobbed into her pillow, feeling the intense pain from his hits hammering in her face.

She just wished to be _anywhere_ but here.

_Please… someone help…_


	6. Not Meant To Be

It had been 5 days. No news. The police had gotten nowhere, and Lucas didn't know what to do.

He was driving home from school, with the radio playing on load. School was tough for him lately. Everything was. Of course, he had Haley, Nathan, Brooke and the rest of his friends, and they were all very worried too… but he couldn't just sit there and be worried. He needed to do something, but he didn't know where to start. Lucas had to face it, he didn't know _anything_ about this Derek guy. He didn't know his real name, where he came from, what school he had went to. How was he supposed to find a guy he didn't know anything about? A guy who didn't even want to be found…

Suddenly a song started rocking on the radio, and it gave Lucas chills. "Linoleum" by NOFX had just started playing. He had mentioned that song to Peyton the first time he spoke to her by the lake.

"_That's me on the beachside combing the sand_

_Metal meter in my hand…"_

Lucas tried not to think of it. He tried not to think of Peyton, who was probably terrified for her life right now. Peyton, that dark, feisty, sarcastic, brave girl he had come to know, who had already gone through too much, but still always managed to stand up after a fall.

"_That's me on the street with a violin under my chin_

_Playing with a grin…"_

Would Peyton be able to get through this? Would she be strong enough?

Lucas kept worrying. Why were all these things happening to Peyton? _Why her?_

"_That's me on the back of the bus_

_That's me in the cell…"_

When he first met her, it was hard for her to let him in. It was _always_ hard for her. Why was she being punished for letting someone new into her life? And what would happen to her now, after all of this, if they managed to find her? Was she going to lock herself up forever?

"_That's me inside your head_

_That's me inside your head…"_

_Peyton was standing by her car, looking anywhere but at Lucas, while the wind was flowing through her hair, making it tangled and messy. She was holding a sketchbook in her hands, with the logo "NOFX" printed on the front._

"_That's me inside your head," Lucas said._

"_What?"_

"_NOFX." He pointed to the sketchbook._

"_That's me inside your head," he tried singing. "It's the lyrics from Lin-"_

"_I know the song," she said, looking at him like he was some freak._

Lucas smiled to himself as he pulled over to his house. Someone were standing there though, waiting for him.

It was Brooke.

She got into the passenger seat next to him and closed the door. "Hey, Luke," she said and smiled weakly. Brooke had also been very broken up ever since Peyton disappeared, and was very quiet compared to her usual self these days.

"Hey. How you holdin' up, girlie?" he asked.

"Oh, you know.. So and so."

"What's up Brooke?"

"Honestly, I'm here to talk about _us_." She looked at him.

"Okay..?" Lucas replied, surprised.

"I just wanted to make sure… that none of us gets the wrong idea. We've been spending so much time together lately, and I just wanted to make sure that it was as friends only, nothing more. You see, Peyton is the one who needs me now… And I can't let anything else get in the way of that. Do you understand, Luke?"

"Yeah, of course Brooke! I didn't see this as anything different, just friends. We've both had other things on our minds, and well…" Lucas swallowed. Lately he had imagined him and Peyton together so many times that he couldn't really see himself with anyone else. Friendship or love, he didn't know what it was… All he knew was that he needed Peyton to come home to him, and then everything would be better.

The radio suddenly went over to the news, and they could hear the known opening melody.

"_The police are still looking for Ms. Peyton Sawyer, who was kidnapped from her home in Tree Hill five days ago. So far, the police haven't got anything new to report, but they ask you all to let them know if you saw anything suspicious last Friday night. Ms. Sawyer-"_

Lucas turned the radio off, so he wouldn't have to keep listening. He could feel his hands shaking. He didn't know if it was from anger or sadness. Maybe both.

Brooke looked at him. "You like her, don't you?"

"Who, Peyton? Of course I like her. She's my friend…"

"That's not what I mean… Oh Luke. It was never gonna work out between us, was it?" Lucas looked over at her, and noticed she was smiling.

"No, I guess not. It just wasn't meant to be, I suppose."


	7. Howl

_Autor's note: I just wanna thank everyone who has been reading and reviewing this story so far. All the positive feedback means the world to me, and it's what keeps me inspired to continue! I'm really enjoying writing this, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it._

_Thanks!_

**Warning**: There will be a rape in this chapter, so if you're uncomfortable with that, you might wanna skip it.

* * *

Peyton was back in her room, feeling safe and relieved, convinced it had all been a bad dream. She had her stereo on loud, enjoying the music as it filled her body and soul, making her feel protected and strong. Peyton felt like she hadn't drawn in forever, so the first thing she wanted to do now, was to fill some empty sheets with her thoughts and imagination again. Peyton smiled as she found her painting equipment, thinking about Lucas. Was she going to see him soon?

_Nope… You'll never see him again._

What? Oh, just a negative thought. Peyton shook her head. Of course she was going to see him soon, he'd probably show up in her room any minute now. She smiled again, feeling her heart beat going faster and the butterflies going crazy in her stomach. Suddenly, there was banging on the door to her room. Peyton jumped, feeling surprised.

That must be Lucas! Why was the door to her room closed, though? She never used to close it…

Oh well. She went over to the door, looking forward to seeing his face again, and she opened.

There _he_ was. It wasn't Lucas. It was _him_, that tall, thin man, with blonde hair falling into his eyes. And those blue, lustful eyes stared at her with such cruel intensity, as he smiled at her.

"_You!" _Peyton screamed and opened her eyes at once, sitting up. She was in bed again. She looked around, and was confused at where she was for a second. Then she remembered. "No, no, no…" Her head fell into her arms, as crushing disappointment and fear washed over her. _The dream felt so real… why couldn't it be real?_

While she was lying there with her face covered in her hands, she didn't hear him come in.

"_Peyton_…" When Peyton heard his yearning voice from the doorway, it scared her like nothing had done before. She looked up at him, as he was standing there… He had this hungry look in his face, and his eyes were shining of greed and lust. Peyton hastily sat up, terrified of what he was planning on doing.

He slowly walked closer, and Peyton could feel her anxiety growing.

"I was just thinking about how much I love you, Peyton. It seems like you don't get it. You refuse to cooperate with me, because you don't understand this love we have. I figured this is the only way I'll make you understand. So that's what I'm gonna do… _make you understand_."

"Derek, _please_…" she whispered, begging. It felt like she couldn't breathe. Was this _really _happening?

"I've waited so long for this… I can't believe you're here, at last. And you're all mine…"

His eyes measured her with such craving that she only wanted to hide herself in the covers, anything to have him _not_ look at her like that.

Derek crawled over to her on the bed, delicately kissed her on the forehead, and then, before she knew it, he had grabbed her hands and started tying them to the bed. "_NO_!" Peyton moaned, and wildly started to fight. "Please Derek, stop! _Stop it!_" No matter how much she screamed and fought, he only seemed to get more excited. He had this sick smile on his face while he powerfully tied Peyton's hands together to the bed, and she kept screaming and begging.

Peyton frantically tried to kick him away with her feet, but he just pushed them out of the way as if they were nothing. Kneeling between her legs, he looked down at her with an insane passion. Peyton could only look up at him, petrified, as he pulled his shirt off. She started whimpering and sobbing uncontrollably, still trying to squirm herself away from him, but she was stuck.

"Don't cry, Peyton."

Derek gave her a pleased smirk, and then he started kissing her neck. Peyton felt a horror inside her, horror she had never felt before, as she realized what he was going to do to her. And there was nothing she could do to stop it. She could not believe this was happening to _her_.

He went from kissing her neck, to slowly kissing his way up her thighs, holding her feet tightly to keep them still. He then violently ripped off her dress, and Peyton made a soul-piercing cry.

"Ahh… you're so _beautiful, _Peyton!" Derek said, staring at her body and shivering with excitement.

"And you're DISGUSTING!" she screamed at him in blind rage and terror.

"You know what? I think we're gonna have to shut you up," Derek said threatening, and pulled out a cloth from his pocket. She did all she could to twist her head away from it, but at last he managed to fill her mouth with the cloth, and tie it around her head. She tried to curse at him, but the words got choked in her mouth.

"That's better now, isn't it babe? We don't want you ruining the mood."

Peyton intensely stared at him, hoping she would set him on fire with the hatred she felt for him.

Derek started caressing her stomach and body, kissing her everywhere. He came up to her face, smelled her hair, kissed her lips erotically, and as he was lying on top of her, still with his pants on, she could feel his arousal slowly growing against her thighs. She closed her eyes in disgust and terror, praying for a miracle. As he continued to touch her, Derek slowly started slipping his pants off, leaving him in boxers only.

Peyton continued to howl and cry, fighting to get away from him, but it only seemed to make him desire her more. His hands slipped down her body, and all of a sudden, she could feel his hands slowly removing her underwear. This made Peyton cry out in dismay. She kept trying to kick Derek away, but was unable to harm him, as he was placed between her legs, and holding them down.

"Oh yeah… turn me on, baby. Try to fight me. _God_, I love you," he said, shivering with orgasmic pleasure. Eventually, he started removing his final piece of clothing, while stroking her hair. Peyton closed her eyes hard, feeling like she was going to throw up from the repulsion and fright.

Derek took a hold of her chin, pressing his nails into her skin.

"_I didn't say you could close your eyes!_" he warned her dangerously. Peyton refused to open them, thinking she was not going to give him the satisfaction of doing what he wanted her to.

"Open them and look at me, or else!"

_Or else what? What are you gonna do to me, exactly?_ Peyton thought, but opened her eyes slightly, glaring at him.

"That's right, Peyton… I want you to be here with me. We're in this together, you know…"

Peyton could almost laugh._ In this together?_

As his evil, blue eyes looked into hers, he made the final, terrible movement.

From the moment he forced himself into her, Peyton's safe world was wrecked, gone… forever. Peyton started screaming into the gag, screaming for anyone to hear her. Screaming like she had never screamed before, as he was scarring her soul and leaving her broken. Peyton moaned in pain and torment, praying for it all to stop. She looked up into his face, and saw the vile pleasure forming in his face. He was making loud noises, and saying things to her… things she weren't able to hear.

Tears were streaming down Peyton's face from misery and hurt. She was unable to breathe, unable to think. She was only able to watch him; that perverted, depraved monster ruining her, bit by bit… shattering her world into a million pieces.

Peyton tried to escape… She tried thinking that she was someone else for a moment, and that the girl lying there, having her life wrecked, was not her at all. She was just a normal girl with normal worries, and had nothing to be concerned about in a simple world. Then reality smacked back into her, and she was looking into those cold eyes again, watching him howl in delight.

Was it ever going to end? It kept going and going, the pain never easing…

After a long time, it finally stopped. She tried to breathe, but hardly managed to, feeling her whole body shaking wildly. Every time she tried to take a breath, it was like the air got stuck in her throat and got sent back out, before she could breathe in properly.

Peyton could hear him talk to her from far away, as if he was somewhere else.

"_Yeah, that's right… You're like a proper slut now, aren't you?_" he mumbled. "_You'll do whatever I ask of you, won't you? That's right, my little sex slave._"

She closed her eyes, a single tear falling down her bruised face.

His wet lips touched hers, and then he crawled off her and disappeared.

Peyton was left there in the darkness, mutilated and shattered, feeling as if she was never going to experience hope or joy ever again.


	8. Sound of Silence

_Hello darkness, my old friend_

_I've come to talk with you again_

_Because a vision softly creeping_

_Left its seeds while I was sleeping_

_And the vision that was planted in my brain_

_Still remains within the sound of silence_

He was all over her. She could smell him, feel him, sense him… everywhere. He was inside her, devouring her, and sucking everything she held dear away. He had taken her soul away. And not only that, but she was stuck _with _him, too. Him staring at her, touching her, smelling her. He was _always_ there, as her only company. Outside and inside her. It made her go mad.

She felt disgusted by herself. She felt dirty, used… Peyton didn't want to look at her own body, and she didn't want to think about what he had done with it. She just wanted to be left alone. Nothing and no one were coming for her. No one would be able to find her if they _were_ looking for her. It was all hopeless. She was stuck with _him_ forever. What kind of life was that?

Peyton had been lying in bed for days now, without doing anything. She had not talked to Derek, she had not eaten, and had only moved herself when he had taken her to the bathroom. Her few toilet breaks had been horribly humiliating, as Derek had insisted on going into the bathroom with her. She was starting to get sick and weak, and Derek was getting on edge because of it.

"I'm not going to take you to a doctor, so you might as well just stop what you're doing," he'd told her angrily.

Peyton had lost track of time. She didn't know how long she had been there now, and could feel the days blending together into one painlessly long nightmare.

"I brought you some food and water, my angel." He sat down next to her and stroked her cheek. Peyton barely even opened her eyes.

"You really need to get something in your system, Peyton. You're making me worried. I don't want to force it into you."

Peyton stayed still and didn't answer. She could feel him lifting her head, and gently laying her down into his lap. She felt queasy from it, but had no strength to do anything.

"There you go, baby. Here, I have some water for you," he said and put a glass of water to her mouth. Peyton slowly started drinking from it, while he was holding it to her mouth. She hadn't realized how thirsty she actually was, until now.

"Good girl…" Derek kissed her forehead. Peyton saw fighting as a lost cause in this situation, and took it. "Now here, I have some food for you too. Sandwiches carved into little pieces," he said, pulling a fork with a small piece of bread into her mouth. Peyton started chewing softly, feeling powerless. She was starving out of her mind, and simply could not pretend any longer. She felt horrible, and figured she had to eat and drink _a little_, if she was going to survive this.

"I'm so glad you're finally eating," Derek said gladly. "You've been looking really sick."

Peyton didn't care to answer him, she just kept chewing. Slowly she could feel some strength coming back to her, after she had gotten some food and drink into her system.

"Now I really wish you'd talk to me, dear," Derek said, staring down at her, as she was lying there. She kept staring into the nothingness, trying to distance herself from him in her mind.

"You've been acting like this ever since we made love for the first time, and I can't understand why. It was an amazing night, don't you think?" Derek smiled lovingly at her, and she closed her eyes again, feeling repelled at the thought.

_An amazing night? Did he miss the part where she was screaming and fighting him, begging him to stop? Was he really so blind? Did he only see what he wanted to see? _

"We're going to be together here forever, you know, so you might as well make the best of it and talk to me," he said, sounding irritated at her silence. "I know you love me, Peyton, deep within. You just need to come to terms with those feelings, and then we can be so happy. Stop making this so hard for yourself. _Let me in _and talk to me."

Peyton stayed silent, ignoring him. She hated this man, who were doing all these terrible things to her. She hated him, for taking her away from her life… and her freedom. She hated him so much that she wished for him to die the most brutal death. She hated him more than she had ever hated anything. Yet she was not able to harm him in any way. She was afraid of him. Everything was going his way, exactly as he wanted. No matter how hard she fought, he _always_ won.

How could this be _fair_?

Derek was a psychopath and a rapist, and should be locked up forever. But Peyton was the one locked up, and Derek was free. Where was the justice in all of this?

"Peyton, if there is anything I can do for you… anything at all, just tell me," Derek said, standing up, as if he was about to leave.

_"Derek…"_

His eyes widened. "Peyton? What is it? You talked to me!"

"If you could just…" Peyton's voice felt hoarse and broken, as she had not used it for days.

"Could you… please… just let me wash myself… shower… _alone?_" she muttered.

Derek looked at her for a moment. "Well…"

He thought about it. What could go wrong? It wasn't like she'd have anywhere to run anyway, if she would somehow be able to escape. And in this condition, she wouldn't get too far.

"If that's what you really want Peyton, then fine. I'll let you shower alone. But only this _once_. I'm not comfortable with leaving you alone yet. And I'll be standing right outside, so don't try doing anything stupid."

"Thank you," she whispered weakly.

He walked over to her, and she could see him take out a necklace he was wearing around his neck, and remove a key from the chain. Peyton stared at it for a second, but hurriedly looked away, so he wouldn't notice. Derek stared back at her and smiled. "Don't even think about it, Peyton."

He bent down, took a hold of her foot and unlocked the chain around her ankle. She caressed it, seeing as it was red and sore after being locked up. He took a hold of her arm and helped her up into a standing position. Although his touch repulsed her, she needed the help. Her body was stiff and weak, and she was barely able to stand, as she had been lying still for days.

He walked her out of the room, and brought her into a narrow hall, which lead to the bathroom. When they got to the door leading to the bathroom, Derek stopped her.

"Now Peyton, don't be too long. I'll be waiting right here, unless you want me to join you.." Peyton looked at him with a worried expression.

"Please, Derek… _please… _just let me have some privacy, for a little while?" Derek rolled his eyes, but controlled his temper.

"_Fine._ We'll save that for another time then, won't we?" he said and winked disgustingly.

Peyton hid a shiver, and walked inside the bathroom, finally closing the door between her and Derek, leaving her alone. It felt so releasing in some ways, to finally have complete privacy, even if it was only for a short while. The bathroom was small and, if it were under different circumstances, also kind of welcoming. A small window was beside the shower, and it seemed like the sun was shining brightly outside. The thought of escaping crossed her mind, but she felt too weak, and was afraid Derek would hear her making sounds, so she let it go. She wondered what the people in Tree Hill were doing on this sunny day. Slowly, she removed her clothes, feeling her whole body aching. She got into the tiny shower and turned it on. Cold water hit her body, and it felt so refreshing and real_._ The cold water gave her goosebumps, but soon it became warm and welcoming to her skin. Peyton let the water hit her face, and she closed her eyes for a second, trying to close it all out.

As she looked down at her body for the first time, she let out a small gasp. There were bruises… everywhere. Marks and bruises covering her body. She couldn't even remember getting them, as the whole violation she had gone through was blurry in her mind. But she knew one thing: she had to get him off her skin.

She desperately grabbed some soap and started scrubbing every inch of her body. She _had _to get him off her, she _had _to wash him off. As she was hysterically scrubbing herself, she could see him before her eyes, in her mind, and he was everywhere. She finally collapsed, and fell to the ground. Peyton let the water fall over her, as she truly broke down for the first time since the rape. She pressed her knees to her chest and started sobbing, the shower safely drowning the sound out. Her sobbing then turned into screams of grief, and she tried to conceal the noise by covering her mouth with her hands. Her whole body started shaking intensely, as she kept trying to conceal the horrific screams. Tears of despair fell down her face, and she gasped for breath, trying not to make a sound. As she sat there, feeling completely helpless and fragile, shivering and crying, she tried to take in what she had actually gone through this last week. It was still hard for her to understand that this was _her _life. She simply wasn't able to process the fact that this was actually happening to her.

How could it be?

These kind of things didn't happen in real life… They happened in horror movies… or on the news. Now that she thought about it, she probably _was_ a news story by now. The thought gave her no comfort. She thought about her dad, and she wished to see him again. What if she never got to see him again? Would he be able to get over her, after already losing his wife?

There was knocking on the door. "_Peyton, you alright?" _his voice said loudly through the door.

Peyton tried to get herself together, but continued to shiver madly. "Yeah, I'm- I'm fine-" she tried yelling, but her voice broke into a sob. She could hear the door open, and looked up. Derek was standing over her, looking down at her with a worried expression. She tried to cover herself up, not wanting him to see her naked body.

"Oh, _Peyton,_" Derek said and looked at her with sad eyes. "Don't cry sweetheart, I'm right here! I'm right here." He bowed down and grabbed her under her arms, making her squeal. "_No!" _He lifted her up and pulled her into his embrace, stroking her back. She kept bawling, but tried to get out of his embrace, feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

"There's no need to be sad, Peyton. You have me, _you have me_…" Derek muttered in her ear, trying to comfort her, but he only made it worse.

"Please get off me, Derek," she begged. "Leave me alone, please…"

She could feel his shoulders tense up, and he pulled her back, making eye contact. His face seemed angry, and he looked her dead in the eye, saying: "You belong to me, Peyton. And I'll never let you go." He wiped her tears with his hand and pulled her back into his embrace, as she continued to sob miserably.

* * *

_Author's note: The lyrics at the beginning of this chapter belongs to Simon and Garfunkel, from the song 'The Sound of Silence"._


	9. Thank You

Lucas had just parked his car. He was staring up at her house, Peyton's house… thinking about the night he was there last. The broken window by the door had been replaced now, and the house seemed just like normal. But it wasn't normal. Something was missing.

He continued to stare at the house, lost in his own mind. He wasn't sure he had the strength to go in there again, to face what he could have prevented from happening, but he had to. Larry was expecting him.

He'd just barely talked to Larry right after he came home, because Larry had been too busy going to the police station demanding answers, and after that, Lucas just hadn't gotten himself to visit. He knew his mom had already visited Larry, and she'd looked very sad after returning from the visit.

What would happen when he saw Larry? What if he blamed Lucas, like he blamed himself? What if he started yelling at him? It was all Lucas' fault, after all.

Well, he had to face him eventually.

He took one last glance at the house, imagining Peyton being up there, blasting loud music… And then he left the car, walking up the front porch.

He looked at the doorbell. He never used to ring it, as Peyton would never hear it anyway. There were all these things he didn't realize he missed, until they were gone… He slowly rang it, and expected the worst. There came a loud crash from inside, like glass falling to the ground breaking, and then he heard fast footsteps coming closer. The door opened, and then Larry stood there, looking disorderly and mournful.

"Hi Lucas. It was nice of you to come visit." Larry wasn't smiling, but he didn't look angry either. He only looked sad. He had dark rings under his eyes, and his skin was paler than usual.

"Hey Mr. Sawyer," Lucas said.

"Come in, Lucas. I just need to clean up…" Larry hurried back into the kitchen. Lucas supposed he meant clean up whatever he had broken when the doorbell rang.

As he walked into the kitchen, he was surprised to see the mess. There were dirty plates filling up the sink, and old meals of pizza, burgers, and other things spread over the table.

Larry was bowing down, picking up pieces of a broken plate, and looked up at Lucas. "Excuse the mess, I haven't really… I've had other things on my mind."

"That's fine, Mr. Sawyer." Lucas sat down by the table, worrying about him. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm… I don't really know how to handle this."

His voice was shaking.

"Peyton has always been the one to take care of _me_ in bad situations… Even if she wasn't really handling it too well herself. I should have been taking more care of _her_, that's how it should have been. I don't know how to do this…" Larry turned his back on Lucas, facing the sink. "It's so quiet… All the time. I- I keep going to her room. I always end up just turning her music on, so that it'll feel like she's here. She would be pissed if she knew I was snooping around in her holy ground of a room-" Larry laughed loudly, but the laugh turned into a sob. As he stood there, Lucas could see his shoulders tense, and it was obvious that he was crying.

"Mr. Sawyer, I-"

"Think about how scared she must be right now," Larry interrupted unhappily. "My little girl is all alone out there, and I'm not able to protect her. That's my job as a father, to protect my daughter, and I can't even do that. I should have been here. I shouldn't have been to work all the time… I should have been here to protect my girl from the world, so she wouldn't have to be alone… And now she's _gone_." He started breathing heavily, and tried to keep from crying.

"This isn't your fault," Lucas said sadly. "You've been working to give Peyton a good life, and she knows that. If anything, this is _my _fault. I came here too late… If I had gotten here minutes earlier, I could have stopped it." Lucas looked to his feet. Larry turned around, but now he was angry.

"Is that what you think, Lucas?" he said angrily. _Here it is, _Lucas thought, expecting to be yelled at.

"How can you think that, after all you've done for her… for us?" Larry breathed heavily, and Lucas looked absently at him. "You've been here for Peyton more than anyone else. The times I should have been here to support her, _you _were here. You saved my little girl when she was all alone at school that day…" Larry let out a tremble at the thought. Lucas stared at him, surprised at his words. Larry looked him right in the eye. "If it hadn't been for you- You've been here for Peyton all the time and you have no idea how much that has meant to this family, Lucas. Thank you."

To hear this meant more to Lucas than he could even explain. Not that that the guilt was gone exactly, bur hearing Larry say these things gave him new hope, new strength.

"Mr. Sawyer, thank you… thank you for that," he said weakly.

Larry nodded.

"We can't give up on Peyton, we just can't," Lucas said, his voice growing stronger. "I'm going to do whatever I can to get her back. I-I just need some clues. This guy, this so-called _Derek _guy"-Lucas made angry fists at the mention of the name, and Larry's face hardened- "I know nothing about him. Absolutely nothing. I just need a lead, so I'll have something to start from. I _will _find something., it's just taking some time."

"Thank you Lucas, that means a lot."

They got quiet for a moment. Lucas now realized how truly quiet it was, with no music, no nothing sounding from the house. It reminded him of the same quiet there had been when he last arrived at the house, when Peyton had just disappeared. The thought gave him a lump in his throat, and he tried to shake it off.

"I think we should have some sort of gathering," Lucas suddenly said inspired.

Larry looked curiously at him. "What do you mean, Lucas?"

"I mean… We should have a gathering for the people in town- for people to come and show their support. We could alert the media… so that this case will get more attention. And we'll show our love for Peyton- we'll show her that we haven't forgotten about her. If it makes the news, more people out there will keep their eyes open. Maybe someone has seen something… We need all the help we can get." He looked eagerly at Larry, and Larry smiled for the first time.

"That would be lovely," he said, wiping a tear from his eye.


	10. Spark of Hope

She had been there two whole weeks now, stuck alone with him.

The time had passed so slowly, yet she could not believe she had been away from her life for two weeks already. The fear was still there all the time, clutching in her stomach like sharp blades, but every now and again her fear would turn into fierce anger and desperation, and she would spit out screams and mean words at Derek, only to regret it moments later when he got violent with her. He had a scary temper. She never knew what to expect from him. She remembered the time when Derek used to be a nice guy… before she saw his true colors. She wondered if there had been some signs of his madness, signs she could have noticed if she had paid closer attention at the time. Now that she thought about it, there had been something about his eyes, even back then. There was something cold, yet longing about them, unlike _Lucas'_ warm and welcoming gaze… She just hadn't realized it at the time.

If she had only seen something, noticed the signs before, she might not be in this situation right now, Peyton thought to herself sadly. She could have stopped it.

They were sitting by the dining table, having a nice dinner, but Peyton barely touched it. She never managed to eat much anymore; her appetite had vanished completely since she was taken. She always felt sick and disgusted down to her stomach these days. At least he had started to take her to other places of the tiny house now, so she wasn't stuck in that windowless room all day. But he still made sure she was completely under his control at all times. At the moment, she was tied to a chair around her midsection, so she would have no chance of trying to escape. Not that she had any hopes of escaping anyway. With every day that passed, the little hope she had left disappeared more and more. There was no chance of getting away from him, not with him watching her so closely all the time. She had hoped to get a possibility to find something that could be used as a weapon, but no such luck so far. The hope of someone coming to rescue her was something she could not even allow herself to think anymore. There wasn't a chance, and the thought only brought her more sorrow.

"Why haven't you touched your food? Didn't you like it?" Derek looked at her with care.

She tried to pretend she didn't hear him, staring down at her lap.

"I'd like it if you answered me, sweetheart. Not answering isn't very polite, don't you agree?" he said in a calm, but threatening tone.

Peyton looked up at him for a moment, trying to suppress the strong hatred she felt boiling in her gut, and answered shortly "I'm not hungry."

"Well, I worked hard on making you a nice dinner, and it's very disrespectful to just leave it there. So why don't you try and eat it anyway? Hm?"

Peyton felt the hate building up inside her, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to eat his fucking food. She didn't care if she was being "rude". What she cared about, was to make him understand how much she really hated him. He just never seemed to get it.

"Why can't you just answer a simple question, Peyton?" he said irritably. She was always so hard on him, no matter what he did for her, and it was starting to piss him off. "Why can't you be happy about all the things I do for you? Is it really so hard to show some appreciation? Do you have any idea about all the effort I put into making you happy? Yet you keep acting like this. We could have such a wonderful time together, if you just stopped being so damn stubborn!"

"And how were you expecting me to act exactly, when you decided to brutally kidnap me from my own home?" Peyton snapped at him before she could stop herself.

He stood up in a fast movement, making the chair fall over. Peyton bit her lip and looked at him, scared of what he was going to do next. He saw her scared expression and gained some control over himself. He'd made angry fists without noticing, so he loosened them up. "So I guess we're done eating then," he said irritably and walked over to her. He started untying her, and then grabbed her arm powerfully, pulling her to her feet. He took a grip around her and led her to the couch by the TV. Derek forced her into the couch, as he sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms.

As she was lying there, he kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear. "God, you're so beautiful. Isn't this romantic?" She cringed, wanting nothing more than to get out of his grip. His eyes teared up, to Peyton's surprise.

"You used to trust me…" he mumbled. "You used to talk to me. You opened up to me and told me secrets. It made me feel special. Why don't you trust me anymore?" He sounded so sensitive, with huge contrast to his terrifying anger. "I'm still the same person as before. We were so good together…"

Peyton said nothing. She didn't want to say anything that would make him angry again.

"The way you used to look at me, like you cared about me… like you loved me… I wish you would look at me like that again…"

"But you're _not _the same anymore, are you?" she said, her voice trembling. "I thought you were my brother, and you… you took advantage of my trust. I didn't want this, Derek. I- I just want to go _home_," she said pleadingly, hoping to take advantage of this opportunity when he seemed vulnerable. Maybe he would be able to listen to reason. Wrong move.

"You _are _home, Peyton!" he said, his anger building up, and he stood up. Peyton didn't want this, not now.

"Yes, of course I am, Derek! I didn't mean that… Please don't get angry again, please sit down," she said hastily. "I'm sorry… It- it just takes some time getting used to this new life." Derek's eyes softened.

"Right… I'm sorry, Peyton. I didn't mean to get upset." He sat down and pulled her back into his arms. "This isn't easy for you either, I understand that. Don't worry, you'll adjust to this life, baby. And we'll live happily ever after, without anyone _else _bothering us. Yeah… just the two of us."

This definitely wasn't Peyton's idea of happily ever after, but she kept her mouth shut. That's how most of her days were like, these days. She kept quiet, so she wouldn't snap some angry comment at him and piss him off. She wasn't usually the type of girl who just let someone step on her, but in this situation there was no better choice.

"Shall we watch a movie, babe? Let's see what's on, shall we?" he said and turned on the television.

He found some random cliché romantic movie, and it was a painful hour and a half. Peyton was lying in his arms, completely frozen the whole time, feeling terrified that he would get aroused or excited. He kept dragging his fingers through her curly hair, and at certain romantic scenes, he would look down at her and smile with adoration. It repulsed her beyond belief. When the movie was finally over, her relief didn't last for long. She could feel his hands again, starting to touch her everywhere, and his lips starting to kiss her neck softly. Peyton closed her eyes. _No… not now… _

She tried not to cry. She didn't think she could handle it another time.

But in the middle of his touches, something interrupted them. The end credits of the movie was over, and the news had come on. Peyton's own name caught their attention, and they looked at the television.

Shockingly, Peyton saw her own face filling the TV screen.

"It has now been two weeks since Peyton Sawyer, 18, was abducted from her home in Tree Hill. The police has an ongoing investigation, but so far they've been out of luck." Peyton was frozen, petrified. All she could do was watch; this was her first glimpse of what was happening in the outside world in two weeks.

"Huh, this will be amusing. Those idiots haven't got a clue!" Derek said with a pleased smirk.

Suddenly, Larry Sawyer's face appeared on screen, and Peyton's heart jumped. She let out a whimper.

"I just hope, more than anything, that my baby girl is safe, wherever she is." Larry's voice was shaking, but he had determination in his expression. "I won't sleep until she's back here with me… I _will_ get her back. And the bastard who did this will pay his price…" Larry had tears in his eyes, and they threatened to start falling any second.

Derek laughed cruelly. "What a coward!" he said, staring at the screen, completely emotionless. "That idiot doesn't even care about you, he's never even home. And now he suddenly comes along, _pretending_ he gives a shit."

Peyton tried her best not to listen to him. Derek couldn't take this away from her, he just couldn't.

"Peyton is a strong girl, and I believe she will make it through this. Ever since her mother died, she has learnt how to… take care of herself-" Larry's voice broke.

Peyton could not believe what she was seeing. Her heart was racing, and she longed more than ever to be home with her dad. She wanted him to hold her and protect her the way only a father could. She wanted to tell him that she was okay, so he wouldn't have to worry.

The news reporter spoke again. "People from all over town have come together outside the Sawyer residence this evening to show support and love for their missing friend." As the reporter spoke, the camera showed many people standing together outside Peyton's own house, and she recognized so many faces; Skills. Mouth. Nathan. Haley. Bevin. Rachel. Whitey. Karen. _Brooke… _They were all holding candles or flowers, and they looked sad and worried.

Peyton's eyes filled with tears. This was more than she ever could have wished for. So many people… all of them gathered there for _her_. It made her ache from the inside, and she just wanted to scream at them, telling them where she was and what she was going through. Still, it felt like her heart filled with this spark, and hope started to reassemble inside her.

Then the face she had been hoping and waiting for most, appeared on the screen. Lucas was staring right into the camera, with that broody, attractive look on his face, and those gentle eyes. Peyton got goosebumps, and was filled with true hope for the first time. She ripped herself out of Derek's grip without thinking, longingly staring at the screen.

"Peyton, if you're somehow watching this, I want you to know that I _will_ find you and save you. I won't give up until you're back here with us… with me… please hold on. I will never give up on you, I promise." He spoke these words with such honesty and assurance that she truly believed him. Peyton could feel warm tears fall down her face. "If there is any way for you to make contact-"

The screen suddenly turned black, and Peyton jumped in confusion. What happened? Where did he go? She wanted to see more of this beautiful miracle, this piece of hope. She wanted to see more of her dad, Lucas, and all the others… She couldn't understand what had happened, as tears continued to stream down her face. Then she got her answer. She felt his hard hand touching his way up her back, and then his nails digged into her neck. She whimpered and her body froze. She had completely forgotten about Derek. Terrified, she slowly turned her head to look at him. He was sitting there, completely red with anger and shaking from jealousy. His face was harsh and merciless. Peyton could feel the hairs down her spine stand up in terror, and the joy that had filled her moments earlier, disappeared instantly.

"You think you love him, don't you?" he said coolly, his icy eyes stabbing her.

"_Derek," _Peyton whispered, frightened to the bone.

He wasn't listening. Why was she acting like this? Why did she have to provoke him this way? Why didn't she realize that his love for her was real, unlike that _fraud_ Lucas'?

"You need to forget about him, Peyton. Otherwise, we will never be able to start our life together. You need to forget about them all. From now on, I don't want to hear _any mention_ of Tree Hill or the people there again, _ever_. It's the only way."

He looked at her with enraged eyes, and she let the tears fall quietly in dismay.

His feeling of jealousy only got stronger as he stared at her heartbroken expression, and he made his decision. He needed to make her _his, _so that she would be his forever. She belonged to him, and he needed to make sure that everyone would know that.

Derek grabbed her arm, ignoring her scream as he dragged her across the floor and into the bedroom. Without a word, he threw her to the bed and put the chain around her ankle again, before she was even able to react. Peyton expected the worst to happen, and got ready to fight, but to her surprise, he left the room, closing the door with a loud bang.


	11. Mine Forever

Peyton was breathing fast, still panicking. What just happened? Where did he go? What was going on? She had a nervous feeling he wasn't done with her. She sat there, petrified, expecting him to come back any minute, fear clutching in her stomach, and the minutes passed. 5 minutes… 10 minutes… 15 minutes…

And then, after about 20 minutes, she heard the door creak open. He stood in the door opening for a moment, anticipation making his eyes spark. Peyton sat up, fearful of his behavior.

"What's going on?" she managed to get out. Derek didn't answer. He was scaring her, more than usual.

He slowly walked over to her, but she crawled away from him, not wanting to be a part of whatever he had planned.

Silly girl. He grabbed her foot, and pulled her back to him. She desperately tried to get out of his grip, but he easily overpowered her. "Don't be scared, Peyton."

"What's going on?" she repeated loudly, panicking. Derek took out the key to the chain, and released her from it. Peyton pulled her foot away from him, and pressed her knees against her chest.

"Get up," he said.

"No."

"I said get up."

"_No."_

Derek wasn't going to ask again. He grabbed her arm firmly and dragged her off the bed. Peyton tried to get hold of the bed sheets or anything else that would hold her back, breathing rapidly with panic. He managed to get her off the bed without much struggle. "Let-me-go!" she stammered, trying to fight his painful grip around her arm. He ignored her, and dragged her out of the room against her will. Once they got to the living room, a sharp smell hit Peyton. It smelled like burning wood, and it was hot. At the corner of the room, there was a fireplace she hadn't noticed earlier, and it was now burning ecstatically.

This alarmed Peyton. They were heading straight for the fire, and she figured whatever he was planning on doing, she wasn't going to like it.

Once they arrived by the fireplace, Derek turned to look at Peyton, his eyes big with excitement and determination. "Sit down on the floor," he demanded.

"What- why?" Peyton asked concerned.

"Just do as I say, Peyton."

"N-no! You can't make me-" she tried to say, but he had no patience. Derek hit her hard in the face, making her squeal, and he threw her to the floor. She tried to get back up, but he held her down.

Her eyes were glassy from tears, and her chest filled with dread and fright.

"Whatever you're planning on doing-, p-please don't!" she whimpered.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Don't worry," he told her reassuringly, but she was not reassured at all. Suddenly she felt his hand on her back, and he grabbed the bottom of her shirt, ripping it off. She cried out in terror, and then watched as he pulled out a sharp blade from the fire. It was glowing red from warmth, with sparks burning brightly on the metal. Peyton suddenly realized what Derek was planning on doing, and she panicked more than ever. "No-no-no-no!" she wailed, as he forced her down on her back, pinning her to the floor by sitting on top of her. Her stomach was completely naked, and he stroked his hand gently over it.

"I'm going to show them… all of them… who you rightfully belong to," he whispered, staring at her with a deranged expression. Peyton felt herself starting to hyperventilate, and tears of fear and agony fell down her face. "Don't-_don't_!" she pleaded, a crying mess.

He moved the burning hot blade towards her stomach, and in the next moment, it pierced into her skin. Peyton made a soul-piercing cry, louder than she had ever screamed before. The pain was beyond imaginable, it blinded her, it made her choke. She squirmed from underneath him, trying to get away, hysterically kicking and crying, her eyes rolling. Her skin was burning from the cuts he carved into her, and Peyton was unable to breathe. She just needed it to _stop_. Derek struggled to hold her down, she was going too crazy from the pain, but he didn't stop carving. "STOOOOP!" she desperately screamed in one breath, before she lost her breath again, her hands pulling desperately at her hair.

"Stay still Peyton, we're almost done," he muttered, but she didn't hear him over her screams. Why couldn't it stop? The hot blade burned like pure hell, and all Peyton could do was scream and scream, unaware of all other surroundings. She tried grabbing his shirt, scratching his skin, and pushing him off her, still with the blinding pain overpowering her. She had never felt a worse pain in her life.

Finally, he stopped.

He looked down at her with a pleased smile. Peyton tried to catch her breath, trembling brutally, and sweat was running down her clammy face. She felt sick, she felt numb. The cuts on her stomach burned as if he was still carving. Her vision went in and out of a blur, along with his face. Peyton started gagging, and she turned to her side and threw up. She wasn't able to move, she was only lying there with her continuous shaking. Then she could feel him lift her up and gently carry her somewhere. His warm hand brushed her hair away from her face and then he put her down into the soft bed.

"It's okay now, Peyton, it's over. We're all done," he whispered in her ear. He disappeared for a moment, but then he was back, holding a wet cloth and wiping her sweaty face with it. She moaned in pain, but wasn't able to speak. Then she felt him put the wet cloth over her wounded stomach, and she flinched in discomfort.

"Shhhh" he breathed, continuing to clean her wound. It was only when he finally left her alone again, that she dared to look at what he'd carved into her skin. Slowly, she raised her head, feeling dizzy and sick, and tried to get a look at her stomach. As she got a look at it, she had to keep herself from throwing up again. Upside down, she read the big letters carved into her skin: "MINE FOREVER".

The shock made Peyton whimper in dread, and it made her skin crawl. The letters bled, and her whole stomach was red from the harm. Those terrible words would be scarred on her forever. A burning pain that wasn't coming from the cuts filled her whole body. An intense headache formed in her head, and her eyes filled with tears of disgust. She felt the dizziness overpower her, and she passed out at last.


	12. Emptiness

Lucas was on the computer, trying to get some effective research done. He'd searched for whatever came to mind, but it was literally an impossible search when he had no knowledge of the stalker he was investigating. He'd tried searching for Derek Summers, which had gotten him nowhere close. He had tried searching for articles on psychopaths and stalkers from North Carolina, which was where "Derek" had convinced them he was from, but who knew where he _really_ came from? And every time Lucas made an unsuccessful search, he went back to her website, Peyton's website, and just stared at the black screen of her webcam, where she usually sat and drew. He'd look through her art page and her posts, and it would give him the kick he needed to continue the search for her stalker.

It was all so empty. Her website felt so empty without her there; her last post was over two weeks old. His life felt so empty without her there. Tree Hill felt empty without her there. He looked hopelessly out of the window, where the weather was dark and cold. It didn't help his state of mind.

There was knocking on the bedroom door and Karen's face popped up from behind the door. "Dinner's ready, honey."

"Right," he answered distantly. She walked in, staring at him with a worried expression.

"You're not torturing yourself on Peyton's website again, are you?"

Lucas looked sadly up at her without answering. Karen sighed. "Oh Luke. Please stop doing this to yourself, the only thing you'll get out of it is sadness. The police are doing everything they can, and I don't think you'll get any more out of this than they will."

"No. I can't give up on her, mom, I can't. It's my job to protect her, it's always been, and I failed her. I have to get her back. She has no one else…"

Karen's eyes teared up. "I'm so proud of you," she said. Lucas looked surprised at her. "You're just like Keith… always so caring, and always put other people before yourself. He raised you right…"

Lucas felt a lump in his throat. He didn't feel worthy of these words.

"I'm just… I'm _so _worried_, _all the time, and I'm thinking every day that passes, the chances of getting her back grows smaller. I-I can't take it, mom. I'm trying my best to hold it together, but I don't know how much longer I can. I'm not getting anywhere, after weeks and weeks of work, I haven't found out a thing." Lucas started breathing heavily, and tried to hold the tears back. Karen walked over to him with a warm expression, and pulled him into her embrace. "Shhh…" she whispered, stroking his head.

"I don't know what to do, mom…" he mumbled, and the tears started falling. "She needs me. She really needs me and I'm not there. And… ever since she disappeared, it feels like there's been this piece of me missing." This was something he hadn't told anyone. "I-I think I love her… I _love_ her, mom. And I haven't even told her," he whimpered. "What if I don't get to tell her?"

Karen's heart ached for her heartbroken son, and she tried to keep her voice steady. "I know, Lucas. I know. Don't loose hope. We'll get her back."

He sobbed into her arms, finally letting out all the pain and sorrow he was feeling, and Karen cried for Lucas as well, praying and hoping that this wasn't going to ruin him forever.

X

Peyton stared despairingly out the window. The weather was grey and depressing, just like her mood. There was a small garden outside the house, where Derek had placed a bench and a small table. All around the garden and house there was nothing but trees, shutting them in like walls. She wondered if she'd be stuck here forever… she wondered if she'd ever go home again…

Derek was sitting by the dining table, reading the paper, but every now and then, she could feel his eyes piercing into her, staring lustfully. It took every ounce of self-control she had not to shiver in repulsion every time it happened.

"You've taken everything…" she mumbled, her lips quaking.

"What?" Derek said, oblivious to her sorrow. Peyton sighed, and kept herself from letting tears fall. He really had taken everything from her. And she didn't know how much more she could take. The joy she had felt a few days ago from seeing her friends on television had completely vanished. Now it felt more hopeless than ever. Even though they were looking for her, they would never find her. How could they? Derek was too smart, and she was in the middle of nowhere.

"You know… just because you've- you've carved some meaningless words into my s-skin, that still won't make it real…" Peyton said weakly, trying to find courage. As she mentioned it, she could feel the cuts burn in pain.

Derek looked at her. "It is real, and now everyone will know it," he said simply and smiled.

She shook her head weakly in disbelief, and put her head into her palms. She didn't want to be part of his twisted obsession anymore.

"You can't do this forever, Derek," she said with a trembling voice. "You can't keep me here forever… This isn't a life. This is imprisonment, and if you loved me, you wouldn't force me to live like this."

"Oh Peyton, will you stop your whining? You being locked up is only temporary, until I know I can trust you, when you learn to behave. When you learn to love me…"

Peyton looked at him with disgust. "That will never happen. You might as well just give up, because you're wasting your time."

"Yes it will happen, babe. I know you, and I have felt your love ever since the first time I saw you. You've just been confused, distracted… but not anymore. I'm sure it won't be long until you realize what's been there in your heart all along."

"If you only realized how wrong you were…" Peyton said gloomily. "I'm not some plaything for you to do whatever you want with, Derek. I'm a _person_. If only you could realize that."

He rolled his eyes. "I think I've treated you like a queen most of the time, Peyton. I love you and adore you like one. I make you nice food, I've bought you nice clothes, I do everything! Sometimes you're just really disrespectful, and you give me no choice but to punish you. I don't enjoy it, but it's necessary. Now I don't wanna hear any more of this. Just leave it, okay?" Peyton couldn't understand him. Obviously, the way his mind worked was beyond her comprehending.

He walked over to her, and kissed her gently. It made her want to throw up.

Derek stared deeply into her eyes, his face shining of admiration and worship. "You're so beautiful, Peyton, I'll never stop telling you that. You're like an angel. I can't believe I actually get to be with you, breathe the same air as you. Kiss you. Love you…" He exhaled deeply and dragged his fingers through her beautiful hair. Peyton leaned herself away from him, trying to make distance between them. Derek took hold of her shirt and compassionately pulled it over her stomach, making the newly made marks visible. Peyton looked away in loathing. His hand slowly touched her belly, and she twitched from the agony it brought her. Her whole body stiffened. He placed a soft kiss on top of it, and pulled the shirt back over his proud work.

He stood up and took her hand. "Let's go to the bedroom."

Peyton looked darkly at him, feeling her insides squirm. He pulled her into a standing position, placed his arms around her waist and kissed her on the mouth. Peyton pressed her eyes closed and tried to push him off, but it didn't seem like he even noticed.

As he dragged her into the bedroom, being all over her, she tried not to think about how she couldn't stand his touch, his wet lips… him forcing himself into her.

When he was done, she promised herself that this was the last time. She was going to get out.

She had to get out.


	13. The Runner

She could feel his warm breath hitting her neck. His arms were wrapped tightly around her tense body. She was barely breathing, trying to build up the courage for what she had to do next. It was the worst thing, having his naked body pressed completely up against her backside, his mouth pressed in on her neck. She inhaled deeply, and slowly tried to release herself from his grip by taking hold of his arm and gently lifting it up. As she tried to roll away from him, he mumbled something angrily in his sleep, and his arm twitched. Peyton lost her breath completely for a moment, and stayed still. It seemed like he was still deeply asleep though, and so she continued to move away from him. Peyton quietly crawled to the end of the bed and grabbed her underwear and nightgown. She slipped it on as fast as she could, not taking her eyes away from Derek for a second. She tried to convince herself that she was not completely insane as she closed in on him again. Her hand reached out to his neck, and her hand started trembling more and more the closer she got. The key around his neck was shining so innocently, as if it was asking her to come take it, but the chance of grabbing it without being noticed was almost too dangerous to even try.

Well, she was desperate.

Her hand closed around the warm key, and she slowly started pulling the necklace upwards, over his head. Her hand trembled more and more, but she tried to control it, holding her breath. It got harder when the necklace got to the point where his head was lying on the pillow; she'd have to drag it underneath his head. Peyton's eyes filled with tears, because it seemed completely impossible to do this without having him wake up. Well, she had to suck it up and take her chances. Her breath started increasing as she started pulling the necklace underneath his head. He didn't wake up. The necklace was almost off him. She started thinking that this might actually work, and her heart started pounding in excitement.

Then out of nowhere, his strong arm grabbed her hair and pulled at it, making her scream in shock. His eyes had popped open, and he was furious.

_"What the hell are you doing?"_

His voice thundered through the room, making her wince.

"Let go, let go!" Peyton shouted and tried to get him to let go of his painful grip on her hair.

Derek dragged her closer to him by her hair, and his hands closed around her neck. She felt the air get squeezed out of her from his firm grip, and tears started falling. "Stop-it!" she breathed heavily. Her hands desperately fumbled around, trying to get hold of anything that might help, while her vision started getting blurry. Her hands closed around a solid object on the nightstand, and she frantically hit it straight into his face. He made a loud groan, and his hands loosened around her neck. Peyton wildly ripped herself off him, and just stared at him in shock for a moment, regaining her focus. The thing she had grabbed from the nightstand appeared to be a digital watch. Peyton grabbed the key and fumbled to get it into the keyhole of her chain. Just as it unlocked, Derek grabbed her arm, but she wasn't gonna let him stop her. Peyton bit his hand as hard as she could, and he screamed in pain, letting her go.

Then she turned and ran; she ran for her life. She ripped the bedroom door open and ran across the hall. The entrance door was straight ahead, and she tore that one open as well; miraculously it was not locked. Her bare feet led her across the moist grass, and she ran in between the trees, not thinking about the twigs and branches ripping her up. She was scared out of her wits, and the only thing she could think, was that the farther away she got from him, the better. She had no idea if he was far behind, but didn't dare look.

Peyton was breathing fast and out of control, and put all her strength into keep moving. It was dark and scary, and the trees surrounding her made it hard to find her way. When it felt like she had been running forever, she courageously took a glimpse from behind her. There were only trees and darkness; no Derek. She stopped for a moment, and leaned into a tree, trying to catch her breath. She allowed herself to cry for a tiny moment, but then she started moving again. Even though Derek was nowhere in sight, she didn't feel safe just yet.

She kept walking as fast as she could, barely breathing, barely keeping it together. Then she heard it; a twig breaking not far from her, and heavy breathing. Peyton froze, not knowing what to do.

Then his controlling voice reached her ears. "_Peyton… come out, come out, wherever you are… _fucking hell, bitch… _Peyton!_"

Peyton was terrified her pounding heart was going to give her away, but after a short while, it seemed like he continued moving in a different direction. Peyton breathed out in relief, and started walking as silently as she could in the other direction.

It felt like she had walked forever. She was scared and she was cold. She didn't know where she was heading, but figured the forest had to end somewhere. Peyton tried to imagine how she would have reacted 3 weeks ago, if she'd known where she was going to be right now. The thought made her shake her head. How could this have happened to her? Had she really been such a horrible person in her previous life? Had she really, as Derek said, led him on? Was this all her fault?

It felt like she had been walking for hours now, and finally decided it was time to take a break. Peyton looked around herself one last time, making sure that it was safe, and then she leaned herself in on a tree, weakly sitting down. She didn't think her feet could have carried her for another minute anyway.

Her whole body was aching in pain. Her feet were exhausted, and her body was trembling from cold and fear. She allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment. There was at least one highlight to this though… Even though she was lost and cold… having no idea of where she was or how to find her way home… she was out. She was _free of him. _

Peyton managed a small smile.

Then she thought of Brooke for a moment. This scary night made her think of the nights after her mom had died… Brooke had been there with her every night, keeping her arms wrapped around her, making her feel safe in her broken world. Peyton smiled at the thought of such a beautiful memory. She was going to make things right with Brooke. And she wished Brooke would be there with her now. But maybe she would get to see Brooke again, _soon_. And Lucas too… everyone. Then she wouldn't hide her feelings anymore. She had to be honest with Lucas… let him know her true feelings. Now that she knew what she had to loose, she couldn't live with that regret…

Peyton's head pounded. She had a growing headache, but didn't pay attention to it. Maybe this nightmare was almost over. She prayed it was over, she prayed she would find her way back to civilization.

The minutes passed, and Peyton could feel her eyelids growing heavier. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't allow herself to sleep, not yet. She needed to find her way out of the forest before he found her again… She was so close. Maybe she could just close her eyes for a moment though?

But as she closed them, there was no going back. The power of the darkness overpowered her, and she entered a world of dreams at last.


	14. Return To Me

The sound of breaking twigs. Birds singing. Leaves rustling.

Peyton's eyes twitched, but didn't open. It was day. The sun was shining brightly. She could feel the burning sunlight through her eyelids. The sound of another breaking twig reached her ear. Heavy breathing. The sound coming closer.

Peyton's stomach squirmed, and her eyes popped open. The sun shone brightly through the trees, and she was blinded for a moment, before her eyes managed to focus. _It was day. _She had fallen asleep.

Peyton blinked. More sounds of breaking twigs… closing in on her. Her heart started racing, and she lifted her head quietly to look. Then she saw them. Two feet. Jeans on long legs. A white wife-beater. Blonde hair.

He walked past a tree right in front of her, not seeing her for the moment. She whimpered, and then covered her mouth in shock. He heard.

His foot stepped forward from behind the tree, and he smiled his evil smile, satisfaction filling his face. "There you _are_, babe."

Terror filled her chest.

_No. NO! _

Peyton wasn't gonna waste a second. She pulled herself up in one movement, and threw herself behind the tree she'd been leaning against. She started running, although knowing deep within that it was hopeless. He reached her in only a few seconds, and grabbed her hair. "_NOOO!" _she screamed, and it echoed hollowly through the forest. He pulled her backwards, and she fell into his chest. "Did you have any idea I've been looking for you all fucking night?" he mumbled furiously into her ear and started shaking her.

"Aarghh!" Peyton groaned madly and tried to get free of him. They fought a wordless fight, where she tried to do anything to harm him, bite him and kick him, while he used all his strength on getting her in control.

At last she managed to give him a solid kick in the groin, and he loosened his grip. Peyton stumbled out of his arms, but her pleasure was short lasting, as her foot got caught under a twig, and she fell to the ground, hitting her head on a big rock.

Stars blinded her vision. A pressing pain to her head made her loose her breath. Her consciousness threatened to betray her, but she fought to keep her eyes open.

Then his hands took hold of the back of her neck, pulling her to her feet, only to throw her into the closest tree again. Peyton tried to scream, but was still short of breath. Then she felt his fists pounding into her face. She could barely hear his screams of rage, as her pounding headache was deafening. His feet kicked into her body, and his fists continued to pound into her face. She could feel blood streaming from her nose, mouth, and forehead. She wasn't able to breathe. She wanted to scream, cry for help, but wasn't able to make a sound. Darkness surrounded her, and she closed her eyes, losing her fight with consciousness for a moment.

When she opened her eyes again, it had probably only been a few minutes. He was carrying her hurriedly through the woods, whispering angry threats into her ear. _"Never do that again… don't you dare leave me… hope you've learned your lesson… never do that again…"_

Her vision struggled to focus, and she stared blankly up through the trees. Her whole body felt numb, she felt numb…

She was a failure. She had failed at her last chance of an escape. There was no way out.

Peyton closed her eyes, not wanting to think, not wanting to breathe, not wanting to be near him. And she let the unconsciousness take her again.

X

She awoke later the same day, now back in her prison of a house. She was lying on the couch, her hands tied roughly together. Everything hurt. Her bruised and battered body kept her still, as every movement she made hurt.

She could feel his eyes staring at her. He was sitting on a chair in front of her, just staring at her. She wondered how long he'd been sitting there.

"Oh, you're up, Peyton. I was so worried about you."

Peyton closed her eyes, not wanting to look at him. The crushing defeat burned in her throat. She'd been _so_ close to freedom… _too _close. And now it was gone… Possibly her last chance of an escape ever.

"I'm sorry I hurt you. But I really needed to teach you a lesson… I promise I'll never do it again."

_Don't make promises you can't keep_… Peyton thought despairingly.

"And I hope you've learned to never try and run from me again."

_Like he'd ever let her try again… Like she'd ever dare again…_

"You're really dirty Peyton. We need to wash away all that blood and dirt. I just wanted to make sure you'd wake up first.." Derek seemed so caring, and it sickened Peyton, considering he was the reason she was so bloody in the first place.

He stroked his horrible hand over her face, and she shrunk in discomfort.

"It'll get better soon," he whispered, trying to sound comforting. Peyton had no strength to argue, or do _anything_, really…

"Well, time to wash," he said and smiled at her. Derek got to his feet and lifted Peyton into his arms, so he could carry her. She let out a moan in pain, as her whole body ached.

When they got to the bathroom, he sat her down on the toilet seat, removed the rope from her tied hands, and undressed her gently. Peyton didn't utter a single word. She looked down at the floor, feeling too broken to even cry.

When she was all undressed, he sat her down in the shower, and Peyton pushed her knees to her chest, trying to cover up her body, even though he'd seen it many times before.

To her surprise, Derek removed his shirt too, and then his jeans and underwear, making him completely naked. Peyton kept her eyes off him, staring distantly downwards. He grabbed the showerhead, turned it on, and sat himself in with her. Derek pulled her into his grip, so her back was leaning in on his chest, and he let the water fall on her.

Peyton closed her eyes and let the warm water hit her, taking some of the numbness she was feeling away. His hands touched her everywhere, washing away stains of blood and dirt, and the water turned red and dark as it ran down to the drain.

"I love you, Peyton," he whispered. She felt nothing. She wanted to die right there.

She would never see Brooke again, never see Lucas again. Never. She'd never get to see Nathan and Haley's baby. She'd never get to be a teenager again, and she'd never get to do things of her own will… Maybe she had been kinda negative in her mind before, but she'd had dreams… dreams of the future. Her own future and what possibilities she might have. But now she'd never get to have a future of her choice. The fact that she had been so sure to get away from this, and her hopes had been so high, it only felt ten thousand times worse now.

Derek turned off the shower.

"Mmmm, now you're all clean and beautiful, sweetheart."

As he dried and dressed her and himself, Peyton never moved, never made a sound. She felt empty, broken, too hurt to even care. He kept talking to her, telling her words of love and affection, but she never answered. She didn't even pay attention to him. It was like she blocked him away, never wanting to look at him or hear his voice again.

"You seem tired… I think I should put you to bed for a while, so you can get some rest. It's been a long day," he said, kissing her forehead.

Whatever… Not like it would make any difference…

Derek carried Peyton to the bedroom, and put her gently on the bed… then went on to the usual drill, chaining her foot to the bed…

Jesus, twisted fuck. If only he could realize what he was doing… he was treating her like some property, like she was something he owned and could do whatever he wanted to…

He placed one last kiss on her lips, and then he finally left her alone.

Peyton's eyes slowly started filling with tears of misery, and she silently started to sob into her pillow. Her chest was filled with dread and sorrow, and she couldn't hold it in any longer. She wept and she wept, until there were no more tears left, and then her mind slowly wandered into dreams of hopelessness and torture.

Was this really going to be her life forever?

* * *

_Author's note: Hehehe sorry guys, but Peyton isn't going back to Tree Hill just yet! It was always my plan to have her try to escape, but not make it! You'll just have to wait a little longer, sadly ;)_

_I hope you won't give up on this story though!_


	15. Where I Feel at Home

_Author's note: I'm sorry if how the storyline in the previous chapter turned out disappointed a lot of people, and I am grateful that you are honest with me:) However, that was simply how I always intended it to be, and I try my best to stick to the story I've had planned in my head from the start, without doing what everyone else says I should do… And the story I have planned just wasn't ready for Peyton to come home yet, sorry! As for people being worried about Peyton just getting "rescued" now, instead of escaping by herself, I want you to know that I really don't plan on having Peyton getting recued without any part in it herself. So Peyton is definitely going to have something to say in her own rescue, even if some other characters might get included in that too.. I mean, Peyton deserves to get some payback to psycho Derek after all he's put her through, don't you think? So I'm gonna try my best to make her play a part in the escape too, and to show how strong she can be when it comes to it. Her strength is what I love most about her, after all. But if you're not happy with the path I'm taking, you are welcome to leave ;)_

_Okay, on to the story! I just had to get that off my heart._

* * *

"How much longer are they gonna make us wait?"

A stubborn brunette was pacing back and forth, feeling annoyed and worried. The tall, blonde guy next to her was leaning against the wall, restlessly tapping his feet at the shiny, white floor. "I don't know, Brooke…" he said, staring distantly into the air. He wished she would stop the pacing.

Lucas and Brooke were at the police station, located in the waiting room and impatiently waiting for answers to exactly what the police were doing to recover their missing friend.

"I mean, this is important! How can they just make us wait here? This is _Peyton_ we're talking about!" Brooke was growing angrier by the second, and Lucas was starting to lose his patience as well.

Earlier they'd been hanging out and discussing what they would do to Derek once they found him, even though it was mostly plans they'd never actually go through with, but in the end they had winded up feeling so helpless and restless that they decided to go to the police and see if they could do anything.

A door finally opened, and a police officer walked over to the waiting two. "Mr. Scott, Ms. Davis, if you would come with me, please." He tried to smile politely, but was cut off by an angry Brooke.

"About time!" she said, walking past him, and dragging Lucas along. When Brooke was in such a stubborn state, there was nothing anyone could do to stop the tough girl from having things her way. The police officer hurried after them into his office, and closed the door.

"So how can I help you?" he said, looking slightly nervous and uncomfortable, which Lucas found a little strange.

"We'd like to know exactly how far you've come in the search for Peyton," Brooke said in a determined manner, and sat down.

"Peyton?" the officer said, still with his nervous expression, but he tried to smile politely.

"Yes, Peyton. _Peyton Sawyer._ The girl who was _kidnapped _four weeks ago!" Brooke continued, getting more annoyed.

"Right…" the officer answered, and his nervous smile became stiffer. Lucas' eyes narrowed, as he tried to figure out what was up with the man in front of him.

"Peyton Sawyer-" the police officer started. "The investigation of Ms. Sawyer has been temporarily put aside, as we have other pressing issues to take care of at the moment, and also as there have been no new evidence for us to investigate so far," he almost muttered, like he was hoping they wouldn't hear him.

"WHAT?" Lucas said, finally speaking. He stood up from his chair, and it clattered to the ground. Brooke sat there, frozen. Her face had turned white. Now it made sense why the officer had acted so nervously. "How can you do that?!" Lucas shouted.

"I am very sorry to tell you this, but you might have to face the fact that your friend… it is very unlikely that she is still alive. Most victims of kidnapping doesn't make it past the first 48 hours. Considering the fact that this is a stalker case, you must know that victims of stalkers are usually left for dead once they're done with them…"

Brooke started shaking her head wildly in disbelief, out of words. Lucas felt his blood run cold. How could they say this? They were the _police, _they were supposed to help!

"Of course we still have investigators looking, and we're not giving up, but you might have to face the fact that Ms. Sawyer could no longer be alive. So for now, our _main focus_ has to be put on other life threatening situations. I am very sorry."

"You have to be fucking kidding me. You cannot be serious right now! You're supposed to help! You're supposed to figure this out! How can you give up already?!" Lucas stuttered angrily. He didn't even know what to say.

"As I said, we have not given up. But there isn't much new evidence for us to investigate at the moment either. We are still determined to catch this guy, and hopefully your friend will be safe and good. But we have to prepare you for the worst."

"By saying that Peyton is probably dead, makes it sound a lot like you have given up," Brooke suddenly said with a terribly cool and trembling voice. Lucas clutched his hands into fists, and every instinct inside told him to punch the man in front of him, but he controlled his temper.

"And what have you told Peyton's dad?" Lucas asked, still enraged.

"We've made contact and let him know the situation of the investigation."

Lucas shook his head. How could the people who were supposed to help them, betray them so fiercely? Larry must be crushed.

"This is unbelievable! Fucking outrageous! What if Peyton _is _still alive, and screaming for help at this very moment, huh? Who's gonna help her if you won't?!" Lucas said, going into the officer's face.

"You need to calm down, Mr. Scott. If you have anything else to tell us that might help the investigation, than please do. But if not, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, as I have important work to do. Again, I'm very sorry."

He honestly did look apologetic, but Lucas didn't care. He only knew if he stayed in there a second longer, he couldn't control his temper anymore and would start swinging at the officer. Lucas stormed out without another word, and Brooke hurried after. She abruptly stopped by the door and gave the officer a venomous look, before saying: "_You will hear from my layer!"_ Then she stormed out aswell.

Lucas had already gone so far that Brooke couldn't catch up with him. He needed to be alone. He was running, running for his dear life, trying to control all the conflicting feelings that were going crazy inside him. _They had stopped looking for her. They had stopped looking for her. What was he gonna do?_

Although the officer had just said what he had feared the most for weeks now, that didn't mean it was true. He had to tell himself that. Peyton wasn't dead. It couldn't be true, they could be wrong. They had to be.

After a while, Lucas started getting short of breath, and slowed down. His breathing was fast and getting out of control. It felt like he was having some kind of panic attack. He bowed down and tried to catch his breath. He felt sick. What things the creep could be doing right now, and no one were there to stop him! Lucas started coughing and gagging, before he lost it completely and vomited.

It took several minutes before he got himself together. It was only when he got to his feet again, that he realized he was on the dock. He sighed and looked around. There wasn't a soul there, only him. He slowly started walking down the dock, and looked out at the soothing waves of the water. He remembered their previous summer vacation, when he and Peyton had spent almost every day together all summer. Who knew how many times they had walked down this dock together, talking about nothing and everything. They had both been so messed up at the time. Him, with his whole catastrophic love confession to Brooke, and saving Dan from getting burned to death, and Peyton with her shocking new mother-revelation. They were both so lonely, and they had found their way back to each other again, after being distanced for so long. He had almost forgotten why he had liked Peyton in the first place, until they started spending time together again. They could talk about everything in a way that he couldn't with anyone else. She understood him so well. They talked about life and death… love, trust, music… whatever subjects they could think of. Lucas stared down the dock. It was starting to get dark. It was kind of calming to him.

_Two lonely souls were walking down the dock together, their voices breaking through the otherwise silent night. _

_"Dude, you need to hear this song I heard yesterday! It's called "To Build a Home" by The Cinematic Orchestra. It's been on my head all day, it's seriously amazing!" Peyton always got energic like this when she was talking about some song she had heard. Lucas smiled. _

_"Well, show me then!"_

_Peyton took out her iPod and put one earplug in his ear, while she put the other in her own with a big smile. They walked in silence and listened. Lucas didn't tell her, but his skin was soon covered in goosebumps as he listened. _

"This is a place where I don't feel alone.

This is a place where I feel at home."

_Peyton looked at Lucas and smiled, and it was beautiful. Her green eyes were sparkling so brightly. He smiled back at her, but they didn't say anything. There were certain moments Lucas and Peyton didn't need to utter a single word, but they both understood exactly what was being thought, and this was one of those moments. They had a mutual understanding. _

"I climbed the tree to see the world.

When the gusts came around to blow me down.

I held on as tightly as you held onto me."

_Lucas was lost in the music, lost in the piano play, lost in the beautiful voice, and he wanted to stay on that dock forever. He wanted the moment to last forever. He had never felt more at home than in this moment. And when he looked at Peyton, he knew that she was thinking the exact same thing. But the song ended, and their worlds came back to reality again._

_"Wow, just… wow," was all Lucas could say._

_"Yeah, I know right?" Peyton looked at him._

_It was silent for a moment, before she finally started the conversation again. "So, have you thought about what you're gonna do about Brooke when she gets back?" And the issues of their lives became the subject once again, as they continued walking quietly down the dark dock. _

_But after that night, they probably had that one song on replay for a whole week in Peyton's room, before she finally introduced some new song for them to get lost in. _

Lucas closed his eyes and took in the smell of sea water. _Where are you Peyton? _

He hoped that he would somehow sense her, somehow hear her from far away. But there was no sound. Only the waves splashing in on the dock.

Lucas took out his iPod from his pocket and turned on the same song that he and Peyton had listened to so many nights ago.

"_Cause_, _I built a home_

_for you_

_for me._

_Until it disappeared_

_from me_

_from you."_

Lucas felt a lump in this throat. It felt like a stab in the heart, but at the same time it was soothing and comforting. The song gave him some form of hope. He knew that wherever Peyton was, she was strong. That's what he admired about her. She wouldn't give up hope, and neither would he. Lucas inhaled the cold night air, and turned around to quietly walk home. He _was_ going to see her again, he knew it.

"_And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust."_


End file.
